SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — Shayne Barrie earned the Everett Silvertips a point. But he couldn’t get the Tips a win.
The Everett Silvertips goaltender was spectacular, keeping the puck out of the net for 60 minutes. However, he couldn’t hold on through 61 as Milan Kytnar scored 38 seconds into overtime, giving the Saskatoon Blades a 1-0 victory over the Tips Friday night.
Saskatoon goaltender Braden Holtby was every bit as good as Barrie, stopping all 25 shots he faced in notching his first shutout of the season. The Blades improved to 13-6-1-0.
Everett (9-7-2-0) still came away with a point by getting the game into overtime. The Tips have three points from the first two games of their six-game swing through the WHL’s East Division.
Friday’s contest was a true goaltenders’ duel as both Barrie and Holtby were forced into big saves during regulation.
“It definitely makes you play at your best,” Barrie said to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix about the goaltenders’ duel. “I know Holtby is a great goalie. I played against him in midget and I knew it would be a battle coming in. He wasn’t going to give up much so I knew I had to be at the top of my game to give us a chance to win.
“I definitely like (low-scoring games) better than the 7-6 games we’ve had a couple of times this year.”
Then in overtime was plenty of open ice to work with when Kytnar scored his game winner. The teams began overtime playing three-on-three, owing to coincidental penalties taken late in regulation. With that much space the Blades raced the puck up ice with Stefan Elliott taking a shot that Barrie saved. However, Kytnar found the loose puck on the rebound, skated around Barrie and scored to give the Blades the victory.
“If it’s 5-on-5 maybe that doesn’t happen if the defenseman is over there,” Barrie said. “But that’s what happens.”
A lively first period ended scoreless as both goaltenders were strong. The best chance fell to Everett early when Daniel Bartek’s one-timer was turned away by Holtby.
The game tilted Saskatoon’s way in the second period, but it remained scoreless mainly due to Barrie. Barrie made several big saves among his 13 during the period, including point-blank stops on Adam Chorneyko and Darian Dziurzynski.
The game evened back up in the third, with both goaltenders again being sharp as the game went goalless into overtime.
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